


the emerald mask

by tusktooth



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Cinderella AU, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22028161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tusktooth/pseuds/tusktooth
Summary: Adam longs for the day that he can leave his abusive home and make a new life for himself in the capital of the kingdom, where he is free from his father's grasp and can go to school and truly become someone. Unfortunately, on the eve of the Prince's grand masquerade ball his plan to get out falls apart. With the help of his closest and only friend, he departs for the city anyway, desperate for a fresh start.
Relationships: Richard Gansey III & Adam Parrish
Kudos: 12





	the emerald mask

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING ABUSE (it's in the tags but i wanted to put it here)  
> yea ngl this fic is kinda wild but i had fun so!!! also i love adam and gansey's friendship so much like literally me and my best friend handshake adam and gansey.  
> for the [ravencyclenetwork](http://ravencyclenetwork.tumblr.com/) search: fairytales  
> [come say hi to me on tinglr!](http://tdeckers.tumblr.com/)

As someone who lived in the impoverished part of the kingdom, Adam Parrish never really concerned himself much with matters of the royal family. His parents did plenty, namely his father, who cursed them out and blamed them for their misfortune at every turn, that is when he wasn’t blaming Adam for cursing them with his very birth.

He never blamed the royals, though. They did well by the poor folk of the kingdom and, while things could be better, the current Queen cared much for all of her people and had been recently been taking action to offer more employment opportunities to the poor and distributing donations in times of need, both of which his father was too proud to take.

Adam himself had taken up three jobs as of late, concealing the truth of his paychecks from his parents in an effort to save money to take part in a caravan to the capital city and enroll in the school there, where he would get the training he needed to become a true scholar, to invent new things or become a scribe or advise important people. What he needed to become a rich man, live in comfort and, most importantly, never lay eyes on his home or his father again.

It was a pity that he hadn’t quite saved enough to pay to house himself in the capital because caravans were cheap nowadays. Everyone was headed to the capital for the Prince’s grand masquerade which was, according to local gossip, entirely orchestrated by his family in attempts to find him a suitor. It would be the perfect opportunity to venture north, even if he sought different goals, but he simply didn’t have the coin to start a life there.

“You should go anyway,” said Noah, Adam’s only friend in this shithole of a town, who dressed more nicely than most everyone who lived there and was in a near-constant state of almost clean.

He shook his head. “Can’t yet. Maybe in a few weeks. Even if the caravan costs more, I’ll be better off by then.”

“Adam, you have to get out. Your father doesn’t treat you right,” he reminded him as if it weren’t something that he was acutely aware of. “Even if you’ve got to dedicate more time to working when you get to the city, at least you’ll be safe.”

“It’s best to wait,” he insisted, pushing himself off the ground. “You just don’t understand.”

“I don’t,” Noah agreed with a sigh. “I’ll stay out of it if you wish.”

“Thank you,” he said with a nod. “Now, I’d better be off. If I’m not home in time for dinner…”

Noah smiled sadly. “I’ll see you soon.”

With that, Adam walked briskly across the village in the direction of their small shack of a cottage. He wasn’t a religious man by any means, but as he walked he said a small prayer for a peaceful night, one where he could just eat and sleep in preparation for another long day of working tomorrow.

For a moment after walking inside, he thought his wish had been granted. The smell of vegetable stew was a comfort to his nose and the house was in complete silence which was truly all he wanted for this night.

His moment of peace was soon shattered, though, because a mere second after walking inside there was a strong elbow jamming into his gut, throwing him into the wall before he fell to the ground wheezing.

Looking up, he saw his father staring down at him, an unsettling fury in his eyes. “You worthless,  _ lying  _ sack of scum!” he yelled. “Your mother and I do everything for you and this is how you repay us?”

When Adam didn’t have the breath to come up with a response, he kicked him in the side before continuing. “You have nothing to say to us? We’ve put a roof over your head and food in your mouth all these years and your mother cleans out your room and you know what she finds? Months of wages hidden away from us, your own  _ blood _ .”

“It’s for school,” he told him because it wasn’t as if he had anything else to lose. “I’ve been saving to enroll in a school in the capital so that I can start a proper career and start making real coin.”

“You’d leave us here to  _ rot _ ?” he asked. “What kind of son doesn’t care for the people who brought him into the world? You know this house isn’t large, your mother can hear you. She can hear how much you apparently hate it here.”

Adam ignored the urge to agree with his hatred of this place and instead gritted his teeth. “I just want better for myself. I know I can achieve more.”

“So you’re too good to work at the docks?” his dad asked, hauling him up by the collar before throwing him back onto the ground once more. “You know, I worked there when I was a young man and so did my father before me. By dishonoring that, you dishonor your very history.”

“I want to do  _ more _ ,” he insisted. “I want to be something!”

His father laughed. “Be something? Son, in all of the years you’ve been in this life, the only thing you have ever been is a burden. And that’s all you ever will be.”

After the long day Adam had just finished, it didn’t take very many swiftly placed kicks for his entire world to go black.

* * *

When he woke up, it was nearly daylight, he was sitting outside, and Noah was peering down at him curiously.

“Why are you here?” he asked in a hoarse voice, as he stood up on shaky limbs.

“You have to get to the capital tonight. The caravan leaves in less than an hour,” Noah told him as he scanned him over. “You’re lucky it’s a masquerade ball.”

“I’m not going to the city and I’m certainly not going to the ball,” he said, limping toward the rain barrel and cupping water in his hands to splash on his face. “I’ve got work soon, down at the docks.”

“I hate getting involved in your life, did you know that?” Noah asked. “I’d much prefer to mind my own business and focus on my happiness. But the path to yours is so clearly laid out for you and I don’t want to watch you ignore it any longer.”

“Noah, I have nothing,” Adam reminded him. “There are no paths for people who aren’t born with the money to pave them.”

“I can help,” he offered. “Spruce you up. Send you off to the ball.”

Adam shook his head. “I don’t want your charity.”

“Not charity,” he replied. “Really, the situation is mutually beneficial. I spruce you up for the day, you attend the Prince’s ball, and then I get free entertainment.”

“Is this supposed to sound more appealing?”

“Hear me out,” Noah started. “I’m dead.”

Adam blinked for a moment. “Come again?”

“I’m dead,” Noah repeated.

“No, I heard that part and I’d like you to explain,” he said slowly.

“I was murdered and technically I’m a ghost,” he said. “I know this is all really weird but like it never came up and then we were too far into our friendship for me to tell you without it being awkward so I just kept it all lowkey. It never really mattered anyway.”

“You’re-” Adam slid back down onto the ground. “Huh.”

“I have a bit of magic in my metaphorical bones. I can spruce you up but only until midnight,” he explained. “If you make connections at the ball with important people then I might find someone who can help me. To get revenge on my killer and set my spirit free.”

He shook his head. “This is all so surreal.”

“Yet it’s reality,” Noah said, reaching a hand out toward his forehead. “May I?”

“Fuck it,” he said with a nod.

Noah pressed his hand to Adam’s head and he felt a surge of magic course through him. Soon, he was lifted into the air and sparkly magical dust swirled around him, turning his dirty, torn clothing until a fine tuxedo and clearing his skin of all dirt and bruises. What’s more, a glittery mask made of emeralds was resting in his hand.

“You clean up more nicely than I imagined,” Noah said with a smile. “Let’s find ourselves a caravan.”

* * *

The capital city was larger than Adam could have imagined and surely a welcome sight after traveling by caravan for an entire day. The city had a life to it which Adam had never experienced elsewhere before, likely partially in celebration of the grand masquerade. There were musicians playing jaunty tunes in the streets while common people of all ages danced around. Vendors were selling pretty much everything in the streets: food, fine jewelry, even live animals, not that Adam had the money for any of those things or the need for the latter two.

As the moved on in the direction of the castle, the festivities seemed to grow brighter and brighter. Even the less wealthy regions of the city radiated joy, their celebrations more spirited than the rest.

Looking around, Adam noticed one girl that didn’t seem as involved in the festivities as the rest, instead sitting in front of a shop that claimed to specialize in the occult and offered psychic readings with her arms crossed and looking out into the crowd with a fuming expression on her face.

“Hey!” she yelled, obviously having seen him looking. “Have fun at the Prince’s ball, wasting the funds that could have been used on the people.”

He looked to Noah, who was smiling in amusement, before jogging over to the girl. “This event is open to the public. It’s a free meal and night of dancing besides I’m sure you’re getting plenty of business from people in the outskirts of the kingdom.”

She shook her head. “Someone just such as you surely couldn’t understand.”

“I’ve spent every penny I have on getting here,” he told her. “Being poor from the coasts to the far south means that this event is hardly beneficial to our economy.”

“You’ve come all the way from the coast for this?” she asked with an eyebrow raised. “I cannot envision a more colossal waste of time. The ball is for show. The Prince of Ravens is hardly going to pick anyone but a noble to pursue, much less a man.”

“And I’m hardly interested in the prince,” he replied. “I intend to move here and enroll in the school, Aglionby, so I can make something of myself. The ball will be full of nobles and other rich folk who I can hopefully seek employment from for the immediate future.”

The girl laughed and shook her head. “Those people are there for a night of drinking and flirting. They won’t be there to hire random strangers. Best of luck, though.”

“And I take it you won’t be attending,” he inferred.

“Certainly not,” she said. “My cousin will have enough fun for the both of us tonight and she has a much better chance of finding a noble husband than I. My night will be spent sitting in the shop and sitting in on readings.”

“Can I stay as well?” Noah asked. “Sitting in on psychic readings sounds quite interesting to me.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and Adam wondered if she had noticed him at all during their conversation.

The girl’s shoulders relaxed. “I don’t see why not. It’s always nice to have some quiet company. I’m Blue, by the way.”

“I’m Adam,” he said. “And the quiet one is Noah.”

“Well, Adam, good look impressing the sharks of this city,” she told him.

“I’ll try my best,” he said, giving her a curt not and heading off again in the direction of the palace.

* * *

Adam had never been more completely out of his element in his life. There was a quartet playing a waltz he was unfamiliar with, a whole room of strangers dancing it, and nobody seemed to be without a partner other than him. He knew the first step to fitting in with the rich was acting like he belonged, but he had no idea where to begin. What’s more, his time was limited. He had only until midnight and then his rich man’s visage would fade away, revealing the actuality of his financial situation and likely his bruises as well.

Not knowing where to begin, he opted for the table near the side piled high with all the kinds of food Adam ever could have dreamed of. He hadn’t eaten much of anything today other than a small piece of bread on the caravan, so this was a chance to fill his stomach with rich foods he had never known the likes of before.

He grabbed a plate and piled it high with meats, cheeses, fruits, pasta, puddings, and more. This was probably going to be the best he ate in his life, so he might as well go a bit overboard.

A man in the kingdom’s colors with a sword at his side approached. He wore no mask among this room of masked people. Better for it too, because he was quite handsome with pale blue eyes and dark hair buzzed close to the skull.

“Are you a knight?” Adam asked as he approached. He couldn’t think of another reason for someone to be armed at this party.

He nodded. “The Prince’s personal guard, technically. Nobody else will put up with me. And you’re a commoner.”

“Wh-” he replied in surprise. “How?”

“You can have the finest clothes but it’s impossible to cover up your mannerisms,” he said. “For example, you get one plate and stack it to the sky with food. The nobles grab one, eat a few things, then throw it aside and dance until they want more, in which case they get another plate.”

“Sounds wasteful.”

He nodded. “It is. But they hardly care. It takes a poor man to appreciate what you have.”

“Were you poor once?”

“Never,” the man told him. “But I don’t appreciate much of anything.”

“Ronan, what are you doing without a mask?” asked a man with a black feathered mask as he walked toward their table. He walked with a sense of elegance and it was clear that he was someone important. “You’re here to enjoy the festivities, just like the rest of us.”

“I’m here because I have to be,” he replied.

The man opened his mouth to say something but closed it. “And who might you be?”

“Adam,” he said, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand firmly.

“A southerner,” he said with a smile. “Excellent. I’m Gansey. Would you like to dance? I’m sure Ronan can keep an eye on your plate.”

“I’d be honored,” he said with a nod, knowing this was his chance to make connections and perhaps get employed.

“Do you know this dance?” Gansey asked as he led him onto the floor.

The upbeat song was one that Adam had heard before but he’d never really had any time to dance in the past so he shook his head.

“Thank the Lord,” said Gansey. “I don’t know it either so no embarrassing myself on that front. Mother insisted that I learn all the best dances but I was far too busy to attend those lessons. Let’s just go with the beat, yes?”

He nodded and took Gansey’s hands, hopping and twirling to the beat.

“So, Adam, what do you know of King Owen Glendower?” he asked as they danced.

“Not much at all,” he admitted. “He was a king in times long passed, correct?”

“His family ruled the kingdom for thousands of years up until he mysteriously disappeared,” Gansey explained. “And I have reason to believe that he still lives.”

“Still lives? After being gone for centuries?”

“He lives, but he sleeps,” he explained. “And if he’s awakened, he may be able to grant a wish of power that cannot even be imagined.”

Adam stopped. “Power that can transcend death?”

Gansey shrugged. “Death is a fascinating thing. It seems so permanent and, yet, with the fickle nature of time, most anything can be changed. Why?”

He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”

“And the night is long,” he pointed out.

“I have a friend who may be a bit deceased,” he replied.

“Hmm,” Gansey hummed and scratched at his chin. “Well, you see, I’m certain that a wish such as Glendower’s could help but if you’re looking for an easier way then it all depends on when your friend passed on. The soul could be quite difficult to reach out to, regardless of the power of the ley lines that send magical energy coursing through these lands.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Adam told him. “He’s been dead since before I met him.”

A smile spread across Gansey’s face. “That’s quite interesting. Please, tell me more.”

* * *

They danced and talked the evening away. Gansey was an interesting man, who spoke of things that Adam hadn’t even begun to consider before but that were undeniably fascinating. He seemed to enjoy Adam’s company as well, appreciating the input he could offer. Their encounter was so enthralling, in fact, that Adam completely forgot to keep track of the time or to mention that he was seeking work until Ronan, the night from earlier in the evening, approached the two of them.

“It’s ten minutes until midnight,” he said to Gansey. “Your mother and father would like you to make a toast when the clock strikes twelve.”

Adam’s eyes widened under his mask. “Midnight?”

He nodded. “The two of you have been dancing quite a while.”

Gansey sighed. “I’ve got to go, but we can return to this riveting conversation once the toast is made.”

“Uh-” he started, not wanting to reveal his lack of wealth. “Sure.”

“Excellent,” Gansey said, walking off toward the raised platform that the musicians were playing on.

“You must feel quite honored,” said Ronan after he left. “Many would swoon at the privilege of dancing with the Prince of Ravens for but a moment and you’ve had an entire night of it.”

His eyes widened. “The Prince?”

“Yes, the Prince,” he said with an amused expression. “Do you know many with the surname Gansey outside the royal family?”

“I didn’t realize,” he said quietly. “Am I a royal suitor or something now? I don’t know how this works.”

Ronan snorted. “You’re not a suitor unless you want to be. And he wants it.”

“Good,” he replied, shoulders sagging in relief. “I was just trying to be friendly anyhow.”

“What’s your deal?” he asked. “A common man ventures up to the Prince’s Ball but without any intention of becoming a suitor. He cannot even identify the Prince after a night of dancing.”

“I wanted to make connections. Seek employment so I can move here and attend Aglionby,” he said. “But it seems I’ve gotten distracted.”

“Gansey tends to have that effect,” he said plainly. “You’ve still got a chance to talk to him after the toast as well. And without your mask, as the plan is to spend the latter half of the night with faces revealed.”

Adam glanced up at the large clock on one of the walls. Five minutes until midnight.

“I have to go,” he said with a shake of his head, starting off toward the exit.

“You’re quite strange!” the knight called out after him.

He ran out through the doors and his mask proved to be quite bothersome. The sweat that had built up through a night of dancing and now running has caused it to slip into his eyes numerous times. Eventually, he just threw it to the side. It wasn’t as if he needed any longer anyway.

“Adam!” called a voice from several paces behind him.  _ Gansey _ .

He didn’t stop, instead running into a side street just at the bells at the church rang true in the midnight air. Once again, Adam was lifted off of the ground and a cloud magical dust filled the air, returning him to his ragged and bloodied clothes from the previous night.

Stepping back out into the main street. Gansey was still there, looking around desperately for him but all attempts were in vain. While dressed in his normal clothes, Adam was all but invisible.

* * *

“Go back home? We can’t!” Noah exclaimed as they stood outside Blue’s house in the dead of night.

“I must,” Adam said with a sigh. “I have nowhere to stay and no work. At home, I have both.”

“Don’t be a fool,” he said with a shake of his head. “That is no home. You can build something here. Maybe Blue and her psychics would be willing to help.”

“I’m not one to accept charity,” Adam reminded him, crossing his arms over his chest. “But this is clearly a better place for you. These people understand magic. They can help you in ways that I cannot. Seek out the Prince if you can. He is interested in such things.”

“You met the Prince?!” exclaimed a voice from outside and a dark-skinned girl that looked a few years older than Blue rushed out, still wearing a fine gown that she likely wore to the masquerade.

He nodded. “I didn’t realize under after, though. He’s quite eccentric.”

“And handsome,” she added. “Though, not exactly my type now that I’ve seen him. He would be much more suited for Blue.”

“Hardly,” she huffed walking out after her. “I’m not interested in princes or nobility of any kind.”

“Or a good time!” her cousin argued.

“I should be off if I’m to catch a caravan back tonight,” Adam told them. “Noah, will you stay?”

He nodded.

Adam smiled sadly, thinking of the glorious life he had for but one night and the terrible one that he would be returning to. “I hope to see you again someday. All of you.”

“You will,” Noah promised. “This is no goodbye.”

“Of course,” he replied, not believing that for a second.

* * *

Life back home was, well, it wasn’t really any different from before. He still overworked himself and came home to be treated terribly. His father hadn’t reacted well to his brief disappearance, but once his bosses had forgiven him he returned to his normal state of general discontent with him. Everything was a bit harder now since he was without his only true friend but feeling lonesome wasn’t really anything new to him.

There were rumors of the Prince riding through the kingdom in search of the man he had danced with on the night of the masquerade ball, trying to find the face that fit the emerald mask. A part of him considered coming forward but he knew that Gansey was likely expecting a noble or someone of similar status. It seemed doubtful that he’d be knocking on the doors of the poor folk.

He also had no idea why Gansey would be doing this. It wasn’t as if they had formed any sort of romantic attraction. Sure, a friendship has its value, but he couldn’t envision a Prince riding across the kingdom just for that. Perhaps the King and Queen had put pressure on him to show the people that the ball wasn’t just a colossal waste of time before setting him up with some noblewoman anyway. Either way, he didn’t think that any of this would ever make it to his doorstep.

That was, until there was a knock on his door when he and his family were seated around the table for dinner one night.

“Prove you’re good for once and get that,” his father ordered.

“Yes, sir,” he said quietly, rising to answer the door.

When he opened it, he didn’t find Gansey standing on the other side, but Ronan, the knight from the masquerade.

“At long last,” he said with a weary sigh. “I thought we were going to have to move on to yet another town empty-handed. The Prince requests your presence.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “He’s having you do his dirty work?”

“No, he’s just incredibly inefficient,” Ronan replied. “He’s checking people by affixing your mask to their face and seeing if it looks right. I get through people three times as fast merely by actually remembering what you look like. The mask only covered half of your face.”

“Why does he want me anyway?” Adam asked. “He came all this way just for a friend.”

“He came all this way for a mind,” Ronan clarified. “You’re brilliant, even I can see that based on our brief interactions. He wants you to help us in his search for Glendower. And your ghost friend, apparently. He would house you and pay you for your services.”

“What’s going on here?” asked his father from behind him, looking between Ronan and Adam as his expression went dark. “Did my godawful son get himself into some trouble?”

Ronan looked between them, eyes catching on what was probably the fading bruise on Adam’s jaw and gritted his teeth. “We have a job for your son in the capital.”

“Well, he can’t go,” his father said. “He has to stay here with his family.”

“He’s a grown man and can decide for himself what he’d like to do,” he replied.

“He’s still an idiotic child but still he knows that his duty is to his family above all else, right?” Adam’s dad looked down to him.

“I-” he started. “I think I’d like to go.”

“Well, you cannot,” his father snapped. “You can’t just leave your mother here to rot, can you imagine how that would make her feel? We’ll have  _ words  _ about this later.”

Ronan took a step forward. “He said he’d like to come and so he will.”

Adam’s dad stepped forward and stared him down. “Don’t pretend to know what my son needs, you rich scumbag.”

“I strongly suggest you back the fuck up,” Ronan said, laying a hand on the sword at his side.

“You would kill a common man in his own home? That doesn’t seem very knightly of you.”

“It’s a knight’s duty to protect the good people of the realm and I will exercise my right to do so, even if it means cleaving through your skull in this very doorway,” he said harshly before turning to Adam. “Let’s go.”

“I don’t need you to protect me,” he replied.

“Good.  _ Let’s go _ ,’ he insisted.

For a moment, Adam considered arguing, but he thought better of it and followed Ronan back toward the city center, where he would embark on his journey to a new life.

* * *

_ a month later _

“Do you really think that Glendower is in this cave?” Blue asked, peering into the cavern ahead of them.

“Even if he’s not, it’s worth a look,” Gansey replied. “Right, Adam?”

He held his hands out in surrender. “I’m neutral in this just along for the ride.”

Ronan snorted. “As if you’re not just as interested in this as the rest of them at this point.”

“I can go first,” Noah suggested. “Since I’m already dead and everything.”

“I’ve led you all here. I’ll go first,” Gansey said, rolling his shoulders back confidently. “Excelsior?”

“Excelsior?” Noah asked.

“Onward and upward,” Gansey explained. “On this night we take another step toward our various destinies, all of which appear to be somewhat intertwined.”

Ronan rolled his arms. “Or it’s just another cave.”

“Regardless, we must venture forth,” Gansey said, raising his torch into the air and walking toward the cave.

Despite her initial apprehension, Blue ran forward to enter into the cave before Gansey had the chance to. “All of you are slow!”

With a laugh and the shaking of heads, the four of them ran in after her.


End file.
